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Alabama Sen. Doug Jones Thursday said he would vote no on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a statement released by his office, the Democratic senator cited concerns about the handling of Kavanaugh's nomination and the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford, who said the nominee assaulted her when he was 17 and she was 15. Kavanaugh denies the charges.

"The Kavanaugh nomination process has been flawed from the beginning and incomplete at the end," Jones said in a statement released by his office Thursday evening. "Dr. Ford was credible and courageous, and I am concerned about the message our vote will be sending to our sons and daughters, as well as victims of sexual assault. I will be voting no."

Jones' announcement came after an emotional, eight-hour hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, where Ford detailed the attack and Kavanaugh said he was targeted for political purposes.

Ford said during a party in the summer of 1982, Kavanaugh and Mark Judge, his friend, trapped her in a room where Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed and tried to remove her clothes. Ford said she was "100 percent" certain Kavanaugh was the attacker.

"They were having fun at my expense," Ford told the committee. "I was underneath one of them while the two laughed."

Kavanaugh strongly denied the allegations, calling them "a calculated and orchestrated political hit, fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election."

"I will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process," he testified. "No one can question your effort. But your coordinated and well-funded effort to destroy my family will not drive me out."

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Friday along party lines to move Kavanaugh's nomination to the full Senate but called for an FBI investigation into sexual assault accusations against him. Two other accusers have come forward. Deborah Ramirez says that when they were undergraduates at Yale University, Kavanaugh exposed himself at a party and thrust his penis in her face. Julie Swetnick said Kavanaugh and Judge would get girls inebriated prior to assaults. Kavanaugh has denied both allegations.

Jones defeated former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore in a special election for the U.S. Senate last December, in part due to allegations that Moore assaulted, harassed or gave unwanted attention to nine women, mostly during his time as an assistant district attorney in Etowah County in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Earlier this month, Jones called Ford "incredibly brave" for coming forward and called for an investigation into the allegations. He criticized Senate Judiciary Committee chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, for imposing what he called an "artificial deadline" for Kavanaugh's confirmation.

But like other Democrats, Jones — who does not sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee — expressed concerns about the process before Kavanaugh's accusers came forward. The senator said he wanted a complete release of documents related to Kavanaugh's time working for the George W. Bush administration. Jones said he wanted to know more about Kavanaugh's writings on executive privilege, particularly in light of investigations around President Donald Trump and his administration.

Alabama Republican campaigns have mostly stuck by Kavanaugh, though some have stepped away from earlier efforts to make his nomination a priority in statewide campaigns. Gov. Kay Ivey, who over the summer used her support of the nomination as a point of contrast with Democratic nominee Walt Maddox, now says that the Senate should "consider all information involved and make the right choice."

Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., speaks with the media as he walks to the senate chamber on Feb. 9, 2018, at Capitol Hill in Washington. Shelby said he's hopeful he will get the job as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee now that Sen. Thad Cochran has announced plans to resign.(Photo: Jose Luis Magana/AP)

Alabama's senior senator, Republican Richard Shelby, did not indicate Thursday how he planned to vote, though he issued a statement expressing sympathy for Ford, Kavanaugh and their families.

"I thought that Dr. Ford was credible, but I thought that Judge Kavanaugh came on very strong and was also very credible,” Shelby said in a statement reported by ABC 33/40 in Birmingham.

Earlier in the day, Shelby said "you're dealing with people's lives — both sides."

“You can’t divorce politics from the U.S. Senate for something like this," he said. "It’s heated. It’s polarized. I mean, that’s a given.’’